Reviews
"Huge Tom Clancy fan here, and haven't found anything that compares. Until this book. This reminded me of the page-turning nights I spent sifting through Clancy's books. I'm a stickler for historic and technological accuracy. I don't get why you'd write a book involving espionage, aviation and spy technology and get it wrong. This author NAILS is. I found myself smiling as details revealed themselves that I knew were coming from a seasoned, first person witness point of view. Makes a huge difference. By the way, I'm a 99% NON-fiction reader, but this one captured my imagination. Highly recommended. Not fluff if that's what you like by the way."
Nick Weston
(reader; "Invisible Evil")
"Shipwrecks!!" by Wes Oleszewski recounts 12 Great Lakes shipwrecks, most of them obscure. Most of what has been written on the subject details the sinking of the "Edmund Fitzgerald" in 1975, and while I find that endlessly fascinating it's great to read about some lesser known accidents, many of them from decades earlier. It's obvious Oleszewski really loves the subject matter and here he does a good job detailing the loss of ships you've likely never heard of before ("J. P. March", "City of Chatham", "Nevada", etc.) and he's particularly good at developing characters involved in the sinkings. It's clear he did a lot of research.
There are also a couple of chapters not devoted to foundering ships, one, "Chief Pank", about an older nautical mentor of his, and one about the "C. Columbus", a very unique "Whaleback" ship built for the 1893 World's Fair in Chicago. I found these chapters interesting, but they broke up the thematic continuity of the book to a degree.
I really admire someone who clearly loves a subject, researches it, and then brings it to life. I think "Shipwrecks!!" is a worthwhile addition to the library of anyone interested in shipwrecks or Great Lakes history.
"I really enjoyed this book! Being an avid WWII buff I learned a lot from this book. I found the chapters on the production from the region to be fascinating. The book not only examines the massive Willow Run facility but also examines the production of ships and submarines. I guess I never really thought about how vital the Great lakes region was to the war effort. I thought the book was very well researched. The author has a wonderful writing style that makes the book a pleasure to read. Highly recommend!"
Richard F. Teklits
(reader, World War II & the Great Lakes)
"The growing up Spaceflight series is full of little know facts that you never hear about from official sources. I was fortunate to be asked to edit the book for a previous reprint of this volume last summer and I was amazed at how many things I didn't know about the Apollo program. Wes is a meticulous researcher and with his previous books about Great Lakes Maritime History, you couldn't ask for a more detailed yet entertaining series of books including his Growing up Spaceflight series. You'll be amazed at what you'll learn."
Christopher W. Rottiers (reader)